LANGLEY — The South Whidbey football team moved to 5-0 in Cascade Conference standings Friday with a 17-7 victory at home over the Sultan Turks.

Sloppy field conditions from steady rain prevented both sides from mounting an air attack — the Falcons had a total 13 yards passing for the night — but Falcon running backs Henry Mead and Danny Zuver, coupled with tenacious defense from Trapper Rawls, Zuver and Jon Poolman made the difference.

Mead intercepted a Turk pass for the first touchdown and quarterback Hunter Rawls sneaked in for the two-point conversion with 2:52 left in the first quarter. A bad snap led to a safety and two more points for the Falcons.

The game degenerated into a slogging match as neither side could convert plays into scores. At one point Mead ran 35 yards straight up the gut, got spun around and picked up extra yardage going backwards. The technical term for this maneuver is “extra effort.”

At times it was a one-sided affair. Throughout the game, Falcon announcer Mike Kieke would call out the play and not quite finish his sentence so loyal South Whidbey fans could yell, “… another Falcon first down!”

The score was 10-0 at the half.

There were no scores in the third period, but on the first play of the fourth quarter, Mead executed a spectacular breakaway 58-yard run for the Falcon TD and TJ Russell’s point after brought the score to 17-0.

Mead rushed 20 times for 208 yards total, but remembered this particular run.

“We called a time out and Hunter [quarterback Rawls] and I decided I would bounce out to the left on a quick handoff; that was the plan and it worked,” Mead said.

After the touchdown, members of the Birds of Prey student club swarmed the outer track for 17 push-ups in a show of solidarity. But Sultan didn’t roll over and fade away.

A heroic effort by Turk quarterback Zach Beebe was unsupported by his teammates all night, though he did manage a QB sneak for six points with 7:02 left in the game.

In fact, Beebe was the Turk offense. He rushed, threw and coordinated one play after another, to no avail. And when his wide receivers weren’t dropping the ball, he was being intercepted.

“His supporting cast wasn’t up to the task,” said Falcon coach Mark Hodson. “He’s a gifted athlete, but Sultan lacks a certain depth.”

On the following kickoff, the Turks tried to trick South Whidbey by staying in the huddle until the kicker swiveled and dribble-kicked the ball; it was pounced on immediately by Rawls.

Hodson explained that the Falcons defended the run with five people and six against the pass to force a noted passing team to stay on the ground.

“We knew if they ran the ball they’d have some success, but our defense held them. A little ugly, but a win is a win,” he concluded.

Mead said some plays worked, others didn’t.

“Our normal offenses weren’t working so we made some adjustments,” he said. “We also had too many penalties again so I know we’ll be running hard on Monday.”

With 3:02 left in the fourth quarter, the final Turk effort was stopped cold after Dillon Parrick sacked Beebe for a loss.

The final tally was 17-7.

The offense generated a total of 271 yards rushing, 13 in the air.

For the South Whidbey defense, linebacker Zuver had six tackles — two for a loss — a hurry, a pass defense and two fumbles caused. Jake Parrick and Chandler Thompson each had five tackles, and so did Rawls, who additionally had a pass defense and an interception. Nick Tenuta picked up two interceptions on the night.

“This was the fifth consecutive game the Falcon defense has scored, with Mick Poynter picking up the credit for a safety as the Falcons defense held the Turks spread offense to 14-of-29 pass attempts and seven points,” noted Falcon defensive coordinator Damian Greene.

“Great play was contributed by the entire team as the Falcons’ three-man rush on the quarterback helped the defensive backs pick up seven more pass defenses and four interceptions on the night.”

Poolman noted conditions were slippery and the defense had to work hard to keep their feet under them.

“We knew Beebe was a very good quarterback and that we had to shut down the pass, because they’re a throwing team,” he said. “Things were hopping in the secondary all night.”

Hodson said the team needs to clean up their mistakes and avoid mindless penalties.

“The surface was OK, no wind, so the problem was laziness and incorrect hand placement,” he said. “We’ll be discussing all that on Monday.”